1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ribbon assembly for forming a decorative bow, to be applied to wrapped gifts, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a ribbon with a drawstring connected loosely to the ribbon at points along its length and secured to the ribbon at one end so that a user of the ribbon assembly can draw the ribbon into a number of arcuate loops by pulling on the drawstring. One advantage of this known assembly is that the ribbon assembly can be packed flat, thus greatly facilitating and reducing the costs of storage and transport of the ribbon assemblies as compared with preformed bows which are relatively bulky and need to be packed in crush-proof containers.
Prior ribbon assemblies, however, suffer from the disadvantage that, upon pulling the drawstring, the ribbon tends to fold itself into loops which are all aligned in one vertical plane, thus forming a fan shape. This is inconvenient to the user who normally requires the bow to be arranged in a more decorative rosette or pom-pon form, and necessitates the user having to pull on the individual loops to rotate them laterally and rearrange them so that the loops are spaced angularly around a central vertical axis of the bow. Apart from being time-consuming, this manipulation increases the risk of the bow becoming torn, damaged or soiled.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,837 to provide a bow-forming ribbon assembly comprising at least one decorative flexible ribbon member, and a series of relatively stiff retainer members which may be in plate form, or may be wire, spaced apart at intervals along the length of the ribbon member. Each retainer member is restrained against movement relative to the ribbon member and defines an aperture extending generally transversely across the ribbon member at an angle with respect to the transverse direction. Each retainer member extends at an angle different from that of the adjacent preceding retainer member. At least one drawstring member runs freely through the apertures defined by the successive retainer members.
With this known patented assembly, as the bow is being formed by pulling on the drawstring, each relatively stiff retainer member tends to seat itself on the bow loop that is being formed immediately adjacent thereto in an angularly skewed orientation relative to the latter, and tends to skew each loop of the bow relative to the loop beneath, so that the loops of the bow are arranged in angularly spaced rosette or pom-pon like form. Desirably, each retainer member is inclined at an angle opposite to that of the preceding member.
As advantageous as the known patented assembly is in forming a rosette bow without undue manipulation of the bow loops, it is desirable, especially from an aesthetic viewpoint, to make the rosette bow of more visual interest and fuller in appearance. The loops tend to flatten over time and give the bow a plain appearance.